I thought I’d do today’s fractal a little backwards. I usually begin with a fractal, then show a matching picture from nature, and explain a bit of the science behind the nature. This time, I’m going to start off with a nature photo, and follow with the fractals. Everyone should be familiar with the science behind rainbows, so I’ll let the simple beauty of the image speak for itself:

And a similar fractal:

The Mandlebrot set might not be quite as simple, although the formula used to create it sounds simple enough: Z = Z2 + C

But the art found within the set can be deeply complex and beautiful. The following images were all found inside the same set as seen above. Based on the same, ordinary formula, only the rules for coloring the fractal have been changed. (For that, I used a coloring formula titled “doodads”–this basically added extra basins of attraction on the outside, giving some curve to otherwise straight angles.) Mainly, I just wanted to do something abstract for once. I made each of the images below (and the set above) into a wallpaper-sized image (1024 x 728, which should work on most desktops.) Just click to enlarge in a new window.